Numerous cleaning products are currently being marketed in order to clean different types of wood which are used to make decks, fences, siding, and so forth. Examples of products on the market which are sold for these purposes include MILDEW CHEK, DECK BRIGHT, JOMAR, CEDAR CLEAN, and WOLMAN DECK BRIGHTENER. All of the these products require some type of scrubbing or brushing in order to achieve the stated purpose. Further, many of these products require mixing or measuring of some sort and therefore are very susceptible to being mixed improperly and being ineffective or being an environmental and safety hazard. Many of the products also harm plants, fish, animals, or birds which can destroy the landscaping around and/or wild life around the structure being cleaned.
As further background to the present invention, several different acids can be used to clean various types of wood, concrete, and other outside surfaces. However, no single acid will clean mold, mildew, algae, organic stains, and remove dirt without harming one or all of a variety of surfaces to be cleaned.
Also, any one of several products currently being marketed to clean outside surfaces recommend brushing, scrubbing, mixing with other ingredients and/or mention incompatibility with some surfaces.
Additionally, chlorine bleach is often used to clean outside surfaces. However, although it will do a good job, even the manufacturers of chlorine bleach do not recommend it for this use because used alone, the bleach will dry wood too much and cause the knots to shrink and fall out. It will also cause wood to cup when exposed to direct sunlight.
Further, there are many products that consist of poisonous petroleum based chemicals that will kill mold, mildew, fungus, and algae, but there are none with a combination and compatibility of chemicals that are safe and environmentally degradable.
Finally, one product, marketed by one of the present inventors (and disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/822,130, abandoned in favor of copending application Ser. No. 08/032,547), cleans outside surfaces without requiring brushing, scrubbing or mixing with other ingredients. The composition contained, by volume, 1 percent lauryl betaine, 0.5 percent isopropyl alcohol, 5 percent sodium hypochlorite (stabilized with excess sodium hydroxide), and the remainder being water. However, recently it was found that this composition caused the nap of wood to raise and caused some of the other outside surfaces such as certain fabrics to deteriorate more rapidly than normal. This composition also left white scum on some hard surfaces such as wood. These, of course are undesirable side effects.
Accordingly, the present inventors set out to solve the problem of raising the nap of wood while at the same time maintaining an effective cleaner that did not require brushing, scrubbing or mixing with other ingredients. As a result, the present invention was made.